"Brook Lane" by Monica Ali - Book Review

"Brick Lane," by Monica Ali, is a novel set in Bangladesh and later in England. The main character is Nazneen. Nazneen submits to Fate throughout her entire life. It was fate that brought her life and fate that made her marry Channu and move to England. Fate brought her a son and fate did not allow him to live. Fate brought her two daughters and fate dealt Chanu a disappointing career. Nazneen chronicles her sister, Hasina's life which she feels is quite different than hers because unlike Nazneen, Hasina never submits to fate. Ali adequately describes the struggles of a Bengali family living in Britain. She wonderfully elaborates on the scenes and experiences that Nazneen and her sister face both in Bangladesh and in England. Ali does a fairly excellent job at depicting the two worlds of Bangladesh and England. Although, I have never been to Bangladesh, so I can only assume that this is the case. The struggle to integrate into British culture, yet to preserve one's culture is one that many immigrants face and is sufficiently portrayed. However, Chanu is the only one who talks of racism, we know little about the daughters and the struggles that they face and/or her friend, Razia's experiences in language learning. I understand the themes Muslim society is oppressive, Bangladesh is a patriarchal society, women should not ask questions, etc. Yet, I feel a breath of western preaching at the expense of the characters.

One of Ali's flaws, is her character development. I realize that this is a book about freedom. Nazneen finally realizes that she must choose the life that she wants. She realizes that she does have the freedom to navigate her own life. However, Ali sacrifices her characters to accentuate this point. Nazneen almost seems to have no emotions. she is to accept her life and not be either happy or sad about such things. Because of this, she misses those occasions when Chanu is kind. One example is after the death of her son. While she yearns for a better life, she expresses little appreciation for the one that she has. Nazneen, once the dutiful and timid wife, has an affair. I would not doubt this fact in itself. Certainly, she would yearn for the comfort of a man of her own choosing. However, there are Muslim consequences for doing so, which all have been forgotten here. Additionally, she would never go so far as to have this affair in her husband's bed. In fact, there were times when her husband would come home and find her and her lover in the house together. Not only does he casually dismiss the situation, but he talks with the lover as if he is a friend or an acquaintance. this is uncharacteristic of both Nazneen and Chanu. Ali depicts Chanu as sometimes quite violent and staunch in his beliefs. It is almost as if she wants us to feel sorry for Nazneen and her two daughters, yet, she conveniently changes his character when it serves her purpose. The man that Nazneen has an affair with is one who is quite charismatic, but one who urges Muslims to resist the western culture. With this in mind, it would be highly unlikely that he would have an affair with a married woman. In fact, ai found the character of Karim to be poorly developed, as well. It seems as if this affair was only put in the book to satisfy editors or to somehow prove that Nazneen had broken free from the strings of fate and is now able to make her own choices about her life. There are no consequences for her choices, which would seem to be a "must" when we are talking about fate and freedom. There is always a cost for liberation and Ali missed this point, entirely.

I was excited to start this book. It had gotten rave reviews and I enjoy reading about other cultures and the experiences of women in their struggle. However, I must give this book a 2* rating. It fell short of my expectations and its themes of liberation overshadowed any character and plot development.